and i mentioned that feminist in 1923, hoda shaarawi. as far back as 1923, she removed her face veil and said, "this is a thing of the past." and yet here we are, almost 100 years later, still arguing over the face veil. so for me, what the face veil does is... well, i'm against those two right wings, so i'm firmly in the middle. but if a woman chooses to cover her hair, fine, as long as it's her choice. i chose to wear it, i chose to take it off. the human face, to me, is central to human communication. if i was sitting here in front of you, maria, with my face covered, our dynamic would be very different. and i believe what the face veil does is it equates, dangerously, piety with the disappearance of women. it tells women, "the closer you want to get to god, the more you must disappear," and i don't believe this is what islam is. >> hinojosa: well, what about women who say, "i wanted to feel safe," and now you're going to take away that right of them to choose to use that as a... maybe not out of piety, but out of safety? >> i've argu